Motivation v. The Swarm

Hello again everyone. I have been fighting through a cold this past week and am just starting to work myself out from under a load of coursework so I figured I would post again. With my struggle to find hobby time recently, I thought a nice post would be about motivation, mostly in terms of painting, but also just to hobby in general. On my hobby table, I currently have set up 108 termagants, all primed and waiting to be painted, so I thought I would share a few tips on how I plan on getting through this huge task.

• Take your time. If you are bored as you rush through painting the first time, you will be even more bored when you go back and touch up all of those models again.
• Work on small groups. As impressive as it is to see 100 or more models out on a table, you will go insane looking at how many you still have left to go. I find that working on 5-8 troop models at a time is just right.
• Always do a test model. There is nothing more frustrating than getting your squad halfway done and realizing that your highlight colors don't work or that you picked a bad base color. Plus, if you do a test model, your assembly line process will already be worked out.
• Give yourself a time limit. Set aside a chunk of time and work during that time, but stick to your ending time. This cuts down on exhaustion from too long painting one thing, and if you didn't finish everything you wanted to you will have that much more drive to get it done next time you paint.
• Mix it up. When you are painting loads of the same model again and again, it can get tedious. After you paint a couple groups of troops, paint an independent character or monstrous creature. The break will reset your mind and give you new-found enjoyment.
• Stretch periodically. The body gets sore if you sit in one position for too long. The goal shouldn't be to stretch when you are sore though. Stretching should be preventative. I find that if I keep a cup of water with me and drink it as I paint, about the time I need a refill is about when I need to move around a bit. 
• Find a well lit area. Eye strain can put an end to painting quite easily if you paint in a dark area. Other than better lighting, another nice way to eliminate some strain is magnifying lenses. 
• Paint socially. Painting with my little brother is always more fun than painting alone. For those people who don't have someone handy to paint with, a podcast is almost as good. When I am painting alone I always listen to the latest episodes of the Independent Characters, the 11th Company Podcast, 40K UK, or 40K Radio. I recommend all of these podcasts highly.

I hope that some of these help you with any motivation issues you are having. I plan on using them quite a bit in the coming weeks. Happy painting everyone!